Hi. We are a design/style LA based company specializing in mixing eclectic styles on moderate budgets. Also we have a strange amount of fun blogging about all our design and style adventures. Right now I’m happy to say that I’m Target’s home spokesperson, bringing accessible/stylish design to the masses.

From Beige to Pink...

Intro Post: Orlando’s Master Bedroom

Hey everyone! It’s me, Orlando! You may remember from when I was Emily’s fake TV assistant years ago. Or from that time I lived with my parents as a joke and then seriously considered just living with them forever because it was so fun (that’s right now FYI). As you know, my life is currently insane and I’m finishing up a book (it’s out next year, PLEASE BUY IT!). Simultaneous to the 8 million photo shoots I had to do for this book, I’ve also been putting finishing touches on my new apartment (which I’m out of until I finish the book at the end of the month, at which point I’ll begrudgingly leave my parents’ house in Sonoma County to return to my dumb ol’ life in LA even though I don’t want to AND YOU CAN’T MAKE ME). As you’ve probably guessed, I’m already done making over this master bedroom, but I wanted to share a bit of my process with you and get you ready for the final reveal next week.

As a reminder, my new place is a cute French Provincial style building in West Hollywood and I moved there after my boyfriend dumped me and I had to move out of the condo I designed for him (YAY!). My new building is cute and comfortable and I like it there. My latest pipe dream/life goal is to move abroad, so I’ll probably stay in this apartment until I figure out my next step. Which will hopefully be to move to Barcelona and fall in love with a guy named Pablo who plays guitars and will hand feed me tapas. Do you think one tapa is just called a “tapa”? I’d google it but I’m too busy writing about it. I think it would be cool to go to a restaurant and just be like “I’m not that hungry I’ll just take one tapa please.” WHY AM I TALKING ABOUT THIS?

Anyway, the apartment was a huge mess when I moved in that only a self-hating designer would have ever chosen. That’s because designers look at spaces and go “I COULD DO SO MUCH TO MAKE THIS AMAZE!” Even though it looked like an actual drug den when I arrived. So needless to say this has been a fun and exciting journey. AND NOW IT’S DONE.

Previous to my moving in, the apartment was all a peachy beige color. I’m actually a cardholding member of Team Beige and I think it’s gonna make a comeback, so don’t get me wrong. But I don’t understand why people think that beige is a neutral color to paint interiors and exteriors. Like every apartment I looked at was painted beige. I think black and white are both neutral, but beige is a statement. It can be a good statement or a bad statement, but it’s definitely got personality and not necessarily the best color to paint something you’re trying to rent out to people with varying taste and beige tolerance.

Don’t let this sneak peak destroy the drama of the final reveal next week, but I already painted the bedroom this AMAZING color of pink. It’s just warm enough to feel gorgeous and welcoming, just cool enough not to feel like you’re living inside a giant glass of hot orange juice.

The color is “Yours Truly” by Benjamin Moore. Why’d a grown man paint his bedroom pink, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. Mostly because I thought it would scare off any potential suitors who have too many hang ups/insecurities about their masculinity. Pink is an amazing color and it’s for everyone. But it’s still kinda weird for a guy to wear pink or to live in a pink space. We’re never gonna achieve true equality if we hold on to these dumb ideas about what it’s okay for women and men to do/have. So there you have it America. I just solved gender inequality and homophobia by painting by bedroom pink. YOU’RE WELCOME AND SO CAN YOU!

As I said before, I love beige. So I wanted to counterbalance the frivolity of the wall color with a bunch of calming beiges, ivories, and whites. A lot of people are afraid to mix white and ivory but I love it. The crispness of white next to the milky warmth of ivory. It makes me wanna transport myself to ye olden days and ask my Mama for a nice refreshing glass of warm milk. Or rather, I’d make my Papa get it. GENDER EQUALITY!

I have been DYING to paint a room pink for LITERALLY years. I just love pale pink as a wall color. But no client has ever gone for it. It’s always too much for them because they are babies who are no fun. Why are my clients so mean to me? I have no idea! But I decided to finally take matters into my own hands and paint my room a color I’d been dying to try forever!

Another thing I’ve been wanting to try is this total bargain light fixture. It’s such a good price and looks GREAT in person. As any designer will tell you, adding a variety of materials to a room adds to the sense of texture and richness, so I love that I got to incorporate a little woven bamboo into the design plan.

In order to keep the room from feeling like it was getting too much like the set of a 2010 Katy Perry music video, I added some MASC4MASC roman shades, in classic grey to butch things up. Grey and pale pink are one of my fave color combos. They’re seriously one of the hottest couples in Hollywood right now.

I have been obsessing over this Egg Collective x DWR dresser for ages, so I added that in for some extra storage and some EXTRA FLAVOR. Plus, with the wood/marble combo I’m bringing in two more colors/textures. DOUBLE WIN!

The goal with the master bedroom is to create a classic-meets-modern space that balances feminine and masculine energy and feels warm and inviting. The space has a lot of great details to highlight and was just screaming for some help when I moved in.

WILL I BE ABLE TO TAKE THIS SPACE FROM BEIGE TO MAJE?

WILL I SCARE AWAY ALL FUTURE BOYFRIENDS BY PAINTING MY BEDROOM THE COLOR OF A BARBIE CAR?

WILL I EVER LEAVE MY PARENTS HOUSE EVER AGAIN?

Find the answers to these questions for the second installment AND FINAL REVEAL OF MY MASTER BEDROOM on Monday!

Yay Orlando!! He’s my favorite guest poster. And his Instagram stories are hilarious!!!! I think you should live with your parents forever because the comedy is gold up there. Or down there. Or wherever you are. And Icebreakers Sour need to get ON the Orlando train and hire you as their official spokesperson. 😉

This looks amazing! And I’m not just saying that because I just painted my bedroom almost exactly the same color. Mine’s Adobe Blush by Valspar and it might be a touch lighter than yours, but they are definitely in the same family.

I need to get over my hard wood floor envy. I just love rugs, they add so much to the look of a room, but I have carpet:(

I’ve never been a pink person and in general I tend towards…louder decor than is currently on trend. I found bedding I loved in a large abstract print. It’s navy blues and some greens. I decided that is my statement piece and the walls needed to be on trend in pastel and blush looked great with the bedding. My room is nowhere near as put together as yours, but pretty awesome in my corner of flyover suburbia.

It is. on so many first drafts of posts i write ‘i wonder if … ‘ and then I’m like UGH just google it and don’t torture others with your pedantic writing, but then Orlando goes and does it and its wonderful and charming and engaging and the reason why we read anything.

Anyone else ever pair up their markers as couples as a kid? I did. Grey and pink were ALWAYS the first match. Best combo ever. Poor brown and orange. They were my least favorite and always got left with each other. As an 80s kid I was subconscieously embracing pink/grey and rejecting 70s brown/orange

LOVE IT !! You’re the best, Orlando ! I’m so sad you had a painful break-up, but love your attitude. I’m looking forward to the book !

Also, again, total validation from one of the star of the EH team: I actually painted my tiny bathroom pink, and not just the walls, but the ceiling too. I did it without any designer’s help, but with my husband’s total agreement. My painter asked me a million times if I was sure of this, and I was. Soft pink overload + marble tiles around the bath + giant venetian mirror + oversize black tiles on the floor + a few cute accessories in pink and stainless steel. How could this go wrong ? It didn’t.

But the downside was, everybody would turn to my husband and go “so you didn’t have a say, poor guy !”. But he did and he was totally go ! I’m annoyed each time someone implies that because it’s pink, my husband hates it. It makes me feel like a mean wife who forces her husband to live in a space he didn’t chose., when nothing could be further from the truth…

I’m with you! We have a bold floral wallpaper in the master and everyone’s all like ‘What does DH think of it?’ And I’m like ‘Wha?’ Of course he likes it or it wouldn’t be there! I didn’t stealth install it. People are weird

That wall color is gorgeous!! Sadly I don’t think I could convince my boyfriend to go for it, but I’d love to paint my studio that lovely, lovely color. I adore this sneak peek and I also love the tripod-footed lamp in the right-hand inspiration shot — it looks like a happy puppy to me.

Yes, Orlando, in Spain you can ask for just a tapa. It is actually what most spanish do, have one tapa at a bar and go to another bar for another tapa. We don’t sit down at one bar or restaurant and have a full dinner made up of differente tapas. That would be weird…

It’s not girly, it’s monochromatic and warm… I’d be asking for larger and bolder prints to add some masculinity and boldness. It’s not about pink as much as it is about a warm shade. If you like warm and beige, go for it. As someone who is sensitive to light and can see a larger spectrum of colors comparing to the average person, I wouldn’t be too happy with this much warmth. Having said that, I just painted one room in a warm color, but I’m definitively balancing it with other cooler and bolder accents.

Omg Orlando YES. Also if you’re not following him on Instagram and not watching his stories, what realy ARE you doing with your life? I’m waiting for the T-shirt line of shirt that say things like OR-LAWN-DOE, #victim, and of course Icebreakers Sours #nonspon

Love the millennial pink bedroom. Can not WAIT to buy your book.

I feel like Emily is the friend that introduced you to another good friend and that’s another reason you just ADORE them? yes? yes.

Orlando, you are so funny and relatable and irresistible, no wonder you have cultivated such a fan club. Are you really writing a book? I left Hollyweird many many years ago, and I see the wisdom of taking a hiatus in Sonoma. Barcelona sounds like a grand next stop.

Your bedroom in no way, shape or form resembles Barbie’s car. It’s much more like the color of Haagen Dazs strawberry ice cream–a much more desirable color. Some designer (I forget who) once said that the master bedroom is always a feminine place (heteronormative, I know), and added that the feminine environment of the bedroom made men more masculine. I’m not sure I buy that, but who cares? I think it’s a wonderful color (especially with the creamy white)–and it’s flattering to any skin.

FYI: my sister painted her bedroom that color and got nary a complaint from her husband.

I CAN NOT wait to see the reveal! I love your style and I have been contemplating painting our office/guest room a pale pink AND mixing white and ivory in there! It has abeautiful ivory vintage painted wood floor, but I want to keep the trim white and Ive been totally second guessing myself! You are just the inspo I need!!

Cannot wait for reveal! Selfish request: can you tell us about buying/measuring for/hanging outermount roman shades like yours? Some of us have ugly moulding we’d love to (partially) hide. Also wondering if there are any “make the window look bigger” tricks like hanging curtains high or if that looks stupid with roman shades!

This looks absolutely amazing, but I am dying to find out where to get those bird pillows. They are everything fabulous and just what I need in my life. Please tell me they are available to buy somewhere.

I love the comparison, “…like you’re living inside a giant glass of hot orange juice.”
Way back when I was a teen/tween, I painted my bedroom (yes my mom let me paint my room however I wished, and yes – I – did the painting), a light green color. It turned out to look almost neon in daylight. I have since learned that a tiny tiny bit of color saturation goes a long long way on walls.

I love the pink, and I agree – it’s a small but significant step toward gender equality. Pink for men!

Orlando, you are the best thing to happen to Instagram since they phased out the Kelvin filter, and god bless you for this amazing bedroom. I hope this is the first shovelful of dirt atop the coffin of blog posts calling design choices “masculine” and “feminine.”

Not even close to Barbie Pink. Barbie Pink is closer to Pepto-bismal pink than the lovely shade of shell pink you’ve put on your walls. Looking forward to the full reveal but that Ikea lamp is killer cool and the price point helps offset your insanely expensive (but worth every penny) kitchen.

Yes, I will buy your book, now you just have to finish writing it. And leave home again.

So, Orlando, is paint color “Yours Truly” too peachy (yellow or orange) undertone to work with a fuchsia (Pottery Barn pink magenta) chair? I’m loving that pink! But I’m really having trouble picking a pink with a more blue/rosy undertone. Everything I like is too muddy or goes beige. Current apartment management color is “paper bag” beige with dark brown carpet. UGLY! And I’d love pink MORE! Studio gets lots of light, so I can go lighter than the current color.

I’ve painted my bedroom in Farrow & Ball Peignoir which is called pink but is a dirty pink with grey undertones and hints at lilac. Might be worth considering as it’s definitely not too girly / peachy / yellow. I love waking up to the colour every morning and its a south facing very sunny bedroom.

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I can’t wait to see the whole reveal! I painted my living room BM’s Blanched Coral and have trying to find ways to add masculinity to the space, so I can’t see how you’ve achieved the balance. I’ve also admired that bamboo Ikea pendant from afar, but haven’t bitten the bullet, so I can’t wait to see it in your space. BTW, I adore your posts, Orlando! Bribe him to stay forever, Emily!

I’m with you! We have a bold floral wallpaper in the master and everyone’s all like ‘What does DH think of it?’ And I’m like ‘Wha?’ Of course he likes it or it wouldn’t be there! I didn’t stealth install it. People are weird

Anyway, the apartment was a huge mess when I moved in that only a self-hating designer would have ever chosen. That’s because designers look at spaces and go “I COULD DO SO MUCH TO MAKE THIS AMAZE!” Even though it looked like an actual drug den when I arrived. So needless to say this has been a fun and exciting journey.

Hello!

Emily is a stylist, author and T.V. host with a strong commitment to vintage inspired approachable home style for every single person. Perfection is boring; Let’s get weird. learn more

Interior Design Blog by Emily Henderson

I started this interior design blog in 2010 as a journal of my style and home projects with the belief that design should be approachable, informational and accessible no matter what budget.

As a home style expert who has a strong commitment to peeling back the intimidating layers of the world of home decor, and showing how every person can have a beautiful home that represents their personality, no matter what the budget.

After styling for magazines and catalogues for years, I started my own interior design blog, won HGTV Design Star, and have gone on to host my own hit TV show Secrets from a Stylist, Author the book STYLED, and create the design firm Emily Henderson Design.

My motto has always been to write and publish on my blog what I personally want to read about.